Decriminalising suicide to save mental health
A recent review of the Criminal Offences Act passed by the Ghanaian parliament has decriminalised attempted suicide, to help survivors get necessary support, reports Alfred Olufemi.
The majority of Ghanaian lawmakers have voted in favour of an amendment to the Criminal Offences Act, expunging parts that criminalised attempted suicide. The amendment bill, which was first introduced in 2021, was passed after going through the third reading in late March.
Before the passage of this bill, Ghana was among the 20 countries which still punished people for attempted suicide. In nations like Nigeria, even children can be prosecuted for attempting to take their lives.
According to Section 57 of Ghana’s reviewed Criminal Code of 1960, whoever attempts to commit suicide shall be guilty of a misdemeanour punishable by a fine or three years in jail. "Any term of imprisonment for an offence under the Criminal Code, including attempted suicide, is with hard labour unless the court specifies otherwise. Fines may also be ordered at the court’s discretion," the Ghanaian law stipulates.
The sponsor of the amendment Bill, Bernard Ahiafor, the member representing Akatsi South, said the decriminalisation of the offence was long overdue as it allows victims to get the support they need.
"The person who attempts suicide is in a state of mind such that he or she cannot appreciate the nature of the act that he or she will be carrying out; that is taking his life knowing very well that life is one and once lost, it can never be regained. Clearly, the person is either having a mental or psychological problem," he told journalists.
“Before the amendment of this Act, it is a criminal offence for you to attempt suicide, therefore families don't open up for the person to be subjected to psychological therapy or to be treated medically so that such a thing will not reoccur again.”
Ahiafor implored President Nana Akufo-Addo to urgently assent to the bill.
The latest amendment is in sync with the World Health Organisation’s advisory against the criminalisation of suicide. At the 2019 World Health Assembly, health ministers of various countries agreed that decriminalising suicide was an effective way to reduce deaths by suicide.
The WHO says suicide remains one of the leading causes of death globally – more than HIV, malaria, breast cancer, war or homicide. In 2019, more than 700 000 people died by suicide – one in every 100 deaths, according to the global health agency's estimates.
Likewise, data from Ghana’s Mental Health Authority, showed a surge in suicide attempts. The organisation said 797 persons attempted suicide in 2018. This figure rose to 880 in 2019 and 902 in 2021.
President of the Psychiatrists Association of Ghana, Dr Ruth Owusu-Antwi, has described the latest amendment as a win for mental health and Ghanaians. "Having joined forces with other mental health professionals and well-meaning Ghanaians to push for the repeal of the old law over the past decade, this is a win for the mental health fraternity and the nation as a whole," she stated.
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